Turn your flair for style into an exciting career! If you love to watch those home-makeover shows on television and want to take part in making the places where people live and work better places to be, perhaps you should consider one of several interior design careers. For example, you can become an interior designer for residential homes or an interior design for commercial spaces. If you have a creative knack for knowing what looks good combined with understanding function and efficiency, then a career in interior design may just be for you.

The term interior designer is often mistaken for simply that of interior decorator. However, there are distinct differences between the two careers. Pursuing an interior designer career often requires you to get a degree and certification, typically obtained after both school and work experience, while becoming an interior decorator does not. An interior designer not only focuses on the aesthetics of a space, but they take part in designing the functionality and safety of that space as well. Interior designers work with other design professionals such as architects and builders to ensure that building standards as well as safety codes are adhered to. Interior decorators, on the other hand, focus only on the aesthetics of a space.

There are many opportunities to explore different interior design careers. Careers in interior design can range from designing kitchens and bathrooms for homes to designing spaces within hotels, offices, hospitals, and other corporate institutions. Some interior designers choose to work within a design firm, and others choose to become self-employed. While an interior designer degree will enable you to work with all aspects of interior design, many designers choose to narrow down their area of expertise and specialize in a certain area of the field, such as environmentally friendly (green) design or minimalist design. Some designers enjoy mid-century designs, while others may have a more avant-garde aesthetic. You can pursue a number of interior design careers with your degree in interior design or related area of study, and it might be worthwhile to learn about all the possibilities before choosing one.

In order to begin your professional interior design career, you should start by choosing a design school that best suits your career path along with your personal needs. You can obtain associate or bachelor degrees in interior design. An associate degree in interior design is a two-year program which will enable you to work in entry-level positions such as an assistant to an interior designer. A bachelor of interior design is a four-year program, and students can take courses besides interior design classes, such as in business administration, marketing, or finance, which can help them become business-savvy interior designers. Or students may choose to take interior design-related courses, such as graphic design or architecture, to help enhance their knowledge and add to their skill set.

Professional interior designers in the US and Canada must be certified, and a combination of education and work experience is required to take a certification exam. In the US, registered interior designers are certified by the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCDIQ). Because of the school and work experiences necessary to obtain a certification, qualified interior designers are few and in high demand, making this field a potentially lucrative one to work in.